"5.6.22~11,916’ Charleston Peak #114 + Lee Peak X2 to and fro (since I have no choice to summit it twice as it’s my route down) …out & back from Lee Canyon via the NW Ridge & Devil’s Thumb. 7.25 miles, 4,000’ gain in 6:25hrs Round Trip (includes about 1hr of breaks) One of the shortest routes to Chaz and I was lucky enough to be shown it by Harlan back in 2015 and now it’s one of my top choice routes to Mt “C” HP. The 1st one of the Year is always difficult and slow. I didn’t need any snow gear but encountered some along the way. I had a good time enjoying the solitude on my Fav Mtn. I spied an anchor on top of the Devil’s Thumb rock pinnacle. Hmmmmm. It’s been climbed. Very cool. I don’t like the looks of it but am intrigued :@) There was a new structure put on The Chaz Summit. Not sure what it is. Looks like a locked cabinet and a source of solar power for it. " — paula.raimondi • May 6, 2022

"What a fun day! Harlan took Ritch and I up a new route (to us) to Lee Peak. From there, we traversed over to Rocketship, then to the base of Devils Thumb, our main objective. Devils Thumb is a technical crumbly limestone tower, just off of the North Loop Trail. Every time I walk by it, I wonder what it would be like to climb this thing. Luckily, Harlan had the same idea. I will not share our technique for ascending this monolith, but I will say that it was indeed shitty rock and not easy. Once at the top, we saw no signs of anyone else ever being up there; none of us know of anyone who has ever climbed it. I guess this is the first known ascent. I left a register, we rapped down & made our way back to the saddle between Rocketship and Lee Peak. Harlan's plan was to reascend Lee Peak, so we could descend the same route we came up. Ritch and I didn't feel like going up any more, so we agreed to all try to descend from where we were over loose scree, hoping not to cliff out. We found a route that worked, working around cliffs until we intersected the ridge we came up. From there, we followed the paths/trails back to the cars." — Kevin • Oct 10, 2021

"Hike w/52 Peak Club to Charlie. Stopped at 10962 & Lee. Beautiful morning then as we were on the last switchback to Charlie the hail started. 30 mins later was clear again. South loop on the way down, a thunderstorm about 6 miles to the south over La Madre / Red Rock kept us entertained as we passed Griffith. " — DudeAlmighty • Jun 29, 2021

"Started with 52 Peak Club to Griffith, then broke off SOLO to Charlie, down the north ridge via Devil's Thumb route, up to Rocketship, Lee and the old USGS rain gauge. Had planned on going to Mummy as well but when I reached the base of the climb I decided to call it since I was down to 0.5 L of water and running out of daylight as well. All in all an excellent day training up for my Whitney attempt in 3 weeks. 66º at Charlie Pk around 1:30PM." — DudeAlmighty • Jun 15, 2021

"May the 4th Be With You! Let’s get this party Started! Charleston Peak #103, 1st in 2021 & Lee Peak Twice (to and Fro) Via The Secret Route up from Bristlecone Trail, Lee Ridge, Cliffs & Peak. 10 miles, 4,200’ gain in 6:01hrs. I felt pretty good despite not being in high elevation much...I just got a dull headache. My time wasn’t bad considering the difficulty of the class 3 mountaineering sections, dealing with snow on the NLT cliffs and all the breaks I took. Glad to get the 1st one of the year done since it’s intimidating to get back at it. It was calling me....Perf day! I ate 2 ~100 cal energy snacks and 1.5 liters of water. I found a nice stick to use as an ice ax. https://youtu.be/BGSlV346_E8 https://youtube.com/shorts/dY6hI3gNkig?feature=share https://youtu.be/AMFflDouzM0 https://youtu.be/SwdLAiEsFU8 " — paula.raimondi • May 4, 2021

"We wanted to get up to 11k in preparation for our Sierra trip next weekend, so we headed up to Lee Peak. We took Trail Canyon to North Loop Trail, then a short scramble to the summit. There is still a bit of snow near the summit, but not much on the trail." — Kevin • Apr 10, 2021

"8.18.2020, Charleston Peak #99 plus Lee Peak twice using the class 3/3+ NW ridge Route from Lee Canyon and Devils Thumb. I did some unintentional class 4 getting off track on the descent. 8.2 miles, 4,000’ gain in 5:20hrs. Up to Lee Peak in 1:48hr, Chaz at 2:55hrs in, then back to Lee at 3:55hrs. The air was heavy with smoke and it was tough on my lungs. Aspens show slight signs of Summer waning and Fall approaching. I love experiencing the change of seasons in my Fav mountains. Tuff route. " — paula.raimondi • Aug 18, 2020

"6.4.2020....Charleston Peak #92, 5th in 2020, plus Lee Peak....via “secret” from Lee Canyon, Down Ski Lee. 10 miles, 4,000’ gain w/Jimmy @raimondiguitars Glorious day with my love. My first time guiding “Secret”....it’s truly the best route to the Peak! We soaked in the magical Lee Waterfall on the way down. Jimmy loved it. Wild horses on the ski slopes bid us farewell as we ended this special day. Jimmy’s 3rd time on Chaz, 1st on Lee and his 1st Spring Mtn., mountaineer route. Boom! I’m may just climb this mountain 100 times this year!" — paula.raimondi • Jun 4, 2020

"10.22.19...Charleston/Lee Peak combo (#85-20th this year) 8.8 miles, 4,300’ gain, 4:44hrs total. ➡️Upper Bristlecone Trail➡️”Secret Ridge”➡️Lee Peak➡️Devils Thumb➡️Charleston Peak. Fastest ever to the peak round trip in the 85 times I’ve summited in 8 years, and the hardest route I’ve ever taken, with lots of sustained class 3/3plus cliff climbing all the way to both summits. I only set out today to be steady because my daughter needed me home by 5pm to make her a braid for dance class. I wasn’t going to disappoint her. I felt strong the whole way and never really suffered. I was surprised by my performance since Saturday’s summit was sluggish. I was home by 4:30pm in Henderson. Mothering Win!" — paula.raimondi • Oct 22, 2019

"Finally made it up the NW ridge route from the ski resort. I had been up this ridge several times over the last 10 years to visit some of my favorite bristlecones, but never all the way. A guy came up after me via the same route. He had no pack, just a plastic bag with a small bottle of water & chocolate. It was only the second peak he ever climbed & the last one was 20 years ago! I descended Hidden Chute for the first time in many years & it was in super crappy shape. The top is looser than ever. In the chute, I ran into a couple arguing loudly. He wanted to continue, she didn't. I hope everyone made it down okay! I guess the ridge route is some big secret. 🙄 Whatever...I found my own way just like every other peak in the range & as usual I didn't need no stinking help or GPS tracks to do it! ⛰️💪😝😁" — StudioHoodoo • Oct 6, 2019